Expansion proposed for LEVEL apartments

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris' design for the LEVEL expansion.

More apartments are proposed for the east side of downtown, filling the vacant lot at the intersection of NE Third Street and N Walnut Avenue, directly north of the Calvary Baptist Church-Dan Davis Law Office.

City Center Development owner Richard McKown has proposed building a second addition of his LEVEL apartments on two of three parcels owned by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. City Center owns the third parcel, which is sandwiched between the two OCURA lots.

McKown will present his proposal to OCURA on January 15.

McKown worked with Allford Hall Monaghan Morris again on the five-story building, making it taller than the existing LEVEL property. The building will have 127 units and 4,250 square feet of first-floor office or retail space.

In the OCURA proposal, City Center shows that there is a demand for apartments in downtown. While West Village is still leasing, the average downtown occupancy is 93%, with Mosaic even having 97% occupancy. In the past two years, LEVEL’s occupancy has stayed at 96%.

Architect Wade Scaramucci said this site has a different elevation than the other site, but that will actually work to the advantage of the building.

“When we start a project, we’re always looking at the inherent opportunities on the site,” he said. “With the slope to the east on Walnut, we’ll be able to tuck the parking garage under the building, so it won’t be visible.”

Scaramucci said other opportunity that came with this site, which his next to the historic Calvary Baptist Church, is that the building’s massing is moved to the north. A courtyard with an outdoor kitchen is planned to the south so there’s some visual relief between the church and the apartment building.

“It’s a significant building in terms of the articulation,” he said.

With the proximity to the church and the Deep Deuce district, Scaramucci and his team created the exterior out of masonry, rather than stucco, like the existing LEVEL.

McKown asked the team to design different types of units for a variety of income levels. While the building won’t seek tax credits to provide workforce housing units, Scaramucci said McKown believes that having a variety of income levels living together is good for the apartment community as a whole. The units will range in size from a 475 square-foot studio to 1,015 square feet for two bedrooms.

The property will also have a fitness center, lockable bike storage and pool.